Elections are the means in which society makes political choices by voting for or
against competing candidates. Presidential elections typically bring about the most
participation from voters, especially when the race is close. Since the breakup of the
Soviet Union, Russia now enjoys a free election like the United States and many other
democratic nations. The main difference between Presidential elections in the United
States and Russia is the electoral college. The Presidential election in Russia is a
direct vote by the people, while Americans elect their presidents through a unique method
known as the electoral college.

For two centuries, the United States has been using the electoral
college system conceived by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between electing
presidents by Congress or by direct popular vote. Under this system, each state is
entitled to electoral votes equal in number to its congressional delegation. The
congressional delegation from each state is the number of representatives the state has in
the House plus the two states senators. The party that wins the popular vote in the
state usually wins that states electoral votes. Congress has two key responsibilities
relating to the election of the President. It is directed to receive and in joint session
count the electoral votes certified by the states. If no candidate has a majority of the
electoral vote, the House of Representatives is responsible for electing the President and
the Senate is responsible for electing the Vice President.

Voting under the electoral college continually comes under strict
criticism. Some say that it is complex, indirect, and even undemocratic. Although it may
be unusual, it is not unheard of to gain election to the presidency with less than a
majority of the popular vote. Most people agree the president should be elected by popular
vote, but the issue is how the popular vote should be aggregated. Opponents cannot accept
the unfavorable impact the direct-vote plan would have on the two-party system. A direct
vote would encourage minority parties because of the greater probability that two major
parties would not receive a majority of the vote.

In 1996, for the first time in a thousand years, Russia selected its
head of state in a democratic election. Elections have been going on for quite a long time
in Russia, but they have never enjoyed free elections. Voting in these elections was
always limited to a privileged few. Voting is now open to any citizen over the age of 18
that has not been declared incompetent by court or imprisoned. The Russian election is
unlike the United States election in that it does not consist of an electoral college.
This provides for even more of a free election by the people. The election is based solely
on popular vote by the citizens. If no candidate has a majority, over 50%, of the votes a
runoff election is held. This runoff is held between the two top candidates that have
received the greatest amount of votes.

Another difference of elections between the United States and Russia is
the number of parties in the political system. Russia has a vast number of different
parties, while the United States has only a few. The different numbers of parties does not
play a major role because elections where only one candidate can win create strong
incentives to consolidate alliances and narrow the field before the vote, pushing these
political systems toward bipolarity or majoritarianism. Both the United States and Russia
typically end up with two parties competing for President. In 1996, Russia had candidates
from seven parties competing for President in the first round of elections. These parties
included the Women of Russia, Our Home is Russia (Yeltsin), Yabloko, Democratic Choice,
Communist Party (Zyuganov), Congress of Russian Communities, and the Liberal Democratic
Party. After the first round, as always, the election was decreased to the two parties
with the majority of votes. These parties were the Our Home is Russia, with Boris Yeltsin
as candidate, and the Communist Party, with Gennadii Zyuganov as candidate. Boris Yeltsin,
very unpredictably, won reelection for President in 1996.

Presidential Primaries in the United States came about from movements
in the early 20th century to return the government to the people. The
inauguration of primaries created a system in which candidates for office would be chosen
by the voters of their party rather than by boss-dominated conventions. These
boss-dominated conventions were a result of the links between political bosses and big
business. Presidential primaries in America have two basic types. The first type is the
presidential preference primary in which voters vote directly for the candidate they wish
to be nominated for president. Another is the delegate selection primary where voters
elect delegates to the national conventions. Both of these types however demand states to
send delegates to the national convention. Individual states determine whether or not the
preference vote by the people will be binding on the delegates. Russian candidates for
President may be nominated by electoral associations, voters, and election blocs.

An electoral association is an all-Russian political public association
(a political party) registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.
Electoral blocs are groups of two or more electoral associations, which voluntarily unite
for joint participation in the Presidential election. Electoral blocs or associations
nominate a candidate and appoint representatives authorized to represent them in all
matters concerning participation in the Presidential election. A decision to nominate a
candidate is taken by secret ballot at the electoral associations or blocs
Congress (convention). The nomination of a candidate by voters, a nomination by the
people, is completed in a different manner. After the decision to call the election of the
President has been officially publicized, citizens of the Russian Federation may form an
initiative voters group consisting of 100 or more people for nominating a candidate.
An electoral association, electoral bloc, or initiative voters group must all
collect at least one million signatures in support of their candidate.

Unlike the United States, Russia does not have a Vice President. It has
a Chairman of Government (the Prime Minister or Premier) that acts as a Vice President.
The election for President in Russia does not consist of a running mate as it does in
America. There are four branches of power in Russia including Legislative, Judiciary,
Executive, and the Central Bank.

The present day governments of Russia and America are very similar. The new Russian
Federation is completely different than the government of Communist Russia. Although these
countries have their similarities, differences in the elections and other procedures are
what make each country unique. The Russian Federation is still a new change in Russia and
has an unpredictable future. The years down the road will inevitably lead to many changes
in the structure and procedures of Russian Government as it has in America for centuries
and will continue to do so.